August 2009 Archives

August 24, 2009

[In lieu of actual content, for the next several weeks I will present, at least, one review of an upcoming film each week. These are scripts that I’ve been paid money to read, and many of them contain watermarking, identification numbers, password-protection, and other ways of tracking what company it was sent to; because of this and my desire to keep my job, I will not offer downloads for ANY of the scripts I review here. Don’t bother asking.]

Taking Woodstock, the upcoming Ang Lee film, seeks to capture the zeitgeist of the summer of ‘69 by focusing on a marginalized figure in the history of the Woodstock festival: Elliot Tiber, who this script claims was almost solely responsible for the festival’s happening. James Schamus’s screenplay is based on Tiber’s own book, but I don’t have a clue about the validity of his claims. Personally, I don’t care too much about historical accuracy as long as it’s not something totally ridiculous, like wearing a digital watch in a Renaissance love story. If it doesn’t distract me, I’m more interested in the characters and the story than whether or not Confederate Soldier #3 has the correct patches. Nevertheless, I figured I should point out that maybe Tiber’s — and, therfore, Schamus’s — claims might be a tad dubious, and further point out how little I care.

August 31, 2009

[In lieu of actual content, for the next several weeks I will present, at least, one review of an upcoming film each week. These are scripts that I’ve been paid money to read, and many of them contain watermarking, identification numbers, password-protection, and other ways of tracking what company it was sent to; because of this and my desire to keep my job, I will not offer downloads for ANY of the scripts I review here. Don’t bother asking.]

Here’s the deal: I hate fanboys. They don’t really add anything to an argument but shrill hyperbole, and they can’t take even the smallest amount of constructive criticism against whatever it is they love. That is, at least, my definition of “fanboy”/”fangirl.” A fan of something, although they may be labeled (inaccurately or not) as “casual” fans by their fanboy brethren, is perfectly fine. For instance, I’d consider myself a fan of Joss Whedon’s oeuvre: I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. However, I fully admit that the final two seasons of Buffy and the final season of Angel sucked about as much ass as a once-great TV show can; I just happen to think what came before it sort of makes up for the crappiness. Nevertheless, I like to pretend Buffy ended with “The Gift” and Angel ended with…whatever episode comes just before the fourth-season finale. You can run around blaming the badness of these later seasons on other producers, Whedon focusing his attention elsewhere, etc., etc., but that doesn’t change the suckiness. It also certainly doesn’t change the suckiness of Dollhouse, a sinking ship he’s allegedly piloting with as much enthusiasm as Buffy’s glory years.